Labor and spiritual and moral state of youth in modern Russia.
1. The theme of the attitude of young people to their homeland is extremely topical for modern Russia. Many see in the forms of their social behavior inherent in the current generation of young people, changes in value orientations, life strategies and plans, social preferences, bright manifestations of its lack of spirituality and the absence of a high patriotic mood for self-realization in the process of creating the present and future of the country. A whole set of signs confirms the fact that in Russia there is a serious problem situation related to young people, which is not only not resolved, but, on the contrary, is aggravated by the circumstances of the crisis, the essence of which is understood in different ways. This finds its vivid expression in the ideological miscalculations and essential flaws of that social youth policy, which is being carried out in the country in the course of its reform.
It is pertinent to note that Russian politicians, scientists, and the intelligentsia as a whole do not show much interest in identifying the true essence of the crisis and the reasons for its stagnation. Therefore, it is not surprising that the socio-historical diagnosis made by I.A. Ilyin on the global scale of the crisis that began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, its centuries-old duration, spiritual and religious essence and its economic expression. Some experts speak very briefly about the crisis: “What could be more convincing for those who assure us the opposite: we will not get out of the economic crisis without spiritual rebirth. I affirm and practice shows that we will get out of the spiritual and cultural crisis by getting out of the economic one. The second is a prerequisite for the first "[ 1 ].
It seems that the dominance of the spheral approach to understanding the current crisis leads to the denial of its spiritual essence. Is it possible to understand a certain lack of spirituality, in particular unpatrioticity, of the mass of young people without taking into account the circumstances of a crisis nature? It seems that no. But such an understanding, which leads to the solution of a problematic situation concerning young people, cannot be achieved if we do not consider it in the topic of labor.
Russian sociologists note that the real majority of representatives of today's youth believe that it is possible to achieve success, decent material support, create a strong family and maintain health only through one's own labor activity. One cannot but attach importance to the fact that the desire to have a decent job, material prosperity and the benefits of civilization determines the intention of young people to leave Russia. Without a doubt, the likelihood of losing their homeland for a young person is an urgent and painful problem. Careful elaboration of the topic of labor, as you can see, is required for the implementation of a serious youth policy.
In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to two points that complicate scientific research on this topic.
2. Today, the most common is the definition of labor as an expedient conscious activity, in the process of which a person, with the help of labor tools, masters, changes and adapts objects of nature to his goals, realizing the totality of physical and mental abilities in the production of material and spiritual values. This view of labor has led to the fact that labor of direct producers of material goods is most often featured in research as labor. It is difficult to grasp the connection between spirituality and human labor activity. But labor is, first of all, a social process. It is only thanks to labor as a process that conditions and means of satisfying the bodily, mental and spiritual needs of huge masses of people are created. This is not feasible alone. Speaking about labor in this sense, it is possible to grasp the relationship and interdependence of labor and the spiritual and moral states of the individual. In labor as a social process, the spiritual and moral states of each of its participants acquire their significance and are in demand. Any failures, deviations and anomalies in the system of the division of labor and its social organization affect people and determine their spirituality. It is necessary to look for the reasons for lack of spirituality in the youth environment in the social labor process, i.e. in the process of joint and joint labor activity.
3. What causes the stagnation of the crisis in modern Russian society? If we look for the answer to this question according to Ilyin, it turns out that lack of spirituality, which finds its expression in the relationships and interactions of people, is directly tied to mismanagement. A thrifty attitude towards a person is economically profitable, i.e. economic attitude. If we take into account that the end result of each act of the social process of production is the mass individual in his bodily, mental and spiritual states, and the next act depends on them, then it is easy to understand how important the economic significance of a thrifty attitude towards a person in the army and at school, in the family is. and in the city, in the hospital and in the media, etc. When in the course of investigative actions irreparable damage is caused to the health of a teenager or young man, can these actions be called economically feasible? When, while serving in the army, a soldier is deprived of his ability to work, does it not result in huge economic losses for his family and society as a whole? Mismanagement and spiritual and moral states of a person are not compatible. An economic approach to a person expresses the essence of a spiritually - moral economy, on the formation of which the future of Russia depends, and, therefore, the spiritual and moral state of its youth, since in the center of such an economy is a specific individual as a unit of life of the human race.
Footnote:
1 - Balikoev V.Z. General economic theory: Textbook for universities. M .: Omega - L, 2005, p. 34
On November 5, 1986, two inmates daringly escaped from federal prison in Pleasanton, California. We are talking about 42-year-old Ronald McIntosh, convicted of fraud, and 37-year-old Samantha Jlonec, guilty of a bank robbery. They were lovers, they were immediately dubbed "lovebirds" as soon as the news of their escape appeared in the press.
This is how it happened. Macintosh managed to hijack a helicopter. A former military pilot, he boldly rushed down to the prison yard, landed, grabbed Lopez, and the helicopter took off. The guards did not dare to shoot at the helicopter, it could crash into the yard and kill many people. The beloved hid from the police for 10 days. But in the end, they were detained while trying to get money by check on the territory of a shopping center in the suburbs of Sacramento. They were heading for a yacht anchored off the coast in Washington state; probably wanted to flee to Canada.
Obviously, the described case is a vivid example of deviation: two criminals, who were found guilty by the court, are escaping from prison ... But when reporters interviewed prison officials, crime experts and passers-by, completely different opinions about this "deviant" act.
Some considered the fugitives to be cunning, clever people who managed to outwit the law. One said that he would gladly do the same, and the other expressed the hope that the beloved would never be caught. Some even perceived them as a kind of folk heroes. Other commentators have criticized Pleasanton federal prison for its sloppy security and lenient treatment of prisoners; they compared the prison to a "country club", even to some extent believed that people were doing the right thing by escaping from there.
One of the lawyers who defended the criminals after they were detained near Sacramento told the judge that the escape was "justified."
The case of Macintosh and Jlonec illustrates how difficult it is to assess actions that can be described as manifestations of deviant behavior ... Our assessments depend on whether we expect compliance with the rule of law or heroism? In short, deviance is determined by the conformity or inconsistency of actions with social expectations. Should the Pleasanton Country Club employees be considered deviants for being too gentle? We cannot answer this question, as there is uncertainty as to how harsh or lenient prison guards should be. Was Jlonec's past bank robbery deviant? Most of us would answer this question in the affirmative, since Jlonec's act is a violation of criminal law, and there is general agreement on the advisability and necessity of such a right.
The criteria for defining deviant behavior are ambiguous. They are often controversial, and it is difficult to establish exactly what types of behavior should be considered deviant in our society. The most striking examples of deviation, most likely, could be inhuman acts, which almost always cause condemnation, such as rape and murder.
(N. Smelser)
Explanation.
The correct answer may contain the following characteristics:
1) the criteria for deviant behavior are ambiguous;
2) the criteria for deviant behavior are often controversial.
Answer: None
Values in human life and development of society
Values are one of the components of sociocultural forms. In the course of the development of society, ideas are formed that stand out and to which a special value is attributed. They are assimilated by the subject in the experience and experiences of pleasure and displeasure, joy and indignation, i.e. through emotions. On the basis of values, assessment criteria are formed that regulate people's attitudes to objects of satisfying human needs. In the process of life, a person develops the perception of some objects as valuable, while others are not valuable and even "anti-value" ...
Values can be individual, group, universal. Individual values determine the activity of a particular person and can be of an incoming nature, differ, for example, depending on the age of the individual. Group values (meaning a group in a broad sense - as a social community, a type of society) are of a more general nature: they are defined as the accepted in a given community of ideas about the desired type of sociocultural form. General human values are characterized by the fact that they have an enduring character, they are guidelines for most people, regardless of their gender, age, historical era in which they live. The number of such values is limited. For example, they include truth, beauty, goodness.
Perceived and entrenched values are transformed into social norms, with the help of which the forms of human activity are maintained, reproduced, and regulated.
I. G. Petrov
Explanation.
The response states that
On the basis of values, assessments of various social phenomena and people's actions are formed;
The entrenched values are transformed into social norms that regulate the activities of individuals and social institutions.
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
Family structures are falling apart all over the world. Divorce rates are on the rise in both the developed and underdeveloped worlds, as is the number of female-headed households.
Family values are not threatened by government programs that interfere with the education of families (although there are such programs), and not by media programs that belittle the family (although there are such programs); they are threatened by the economic system itself. This system simply does not allow families to cope with the old way, with the father providing most of the earnings and the mother doing most of the parenting work. The middle-class family with one breadwinner is no longer there.
Social relations are not determined by economics - there can be many possibilities at the same time - but whatever these relations may be, they must be compatible with economic reality. Traditional family relationships are not like that. As a result, the family as an institution is in the process of change and pressure. The point here is not “character formation,” but stubborn economic selfishness, or, more precisely, the unwillingness to subordinate one's own interest to the interests of the family. Economic reality forced us to reconsider the basic issues of family organization.
Explanation.
The response indicates the following manifestations of the crisis of family relations:
The increase in the number of divorces;
An increase in the number of single-parent families.
Subject area: Social relations. Family and marriage
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
In modern European culture, interest in personality, self-identification, and in the social mechanisms of personality formation has intensified.
The most important way of personality formation is the socialization of the individual, the process of assimilation by the individual of the socio-cultural experience necessary for life in a given society.
In terms of content and form, socialization depends on the type of culture to which the individual belongs. So, for example, in primitive communal, ancient, feudal, bourgeois societies, there are special mechanisms that regulate the processes of an individual's entry into a certain collective. Primitive economic activity and the static nature of culture in a traditional society, low life expectancy standardized the process of socialization, reducing it mainly to an initiation rite, symbolizing the offensive for a teenager of social maturation and responsibility. The upbringing system was based on the inclusion of the younger generation in the joint activities of the elders, the most important mechanism of socialization was religious rituals, and in later societies - religious schools.
In addition, the process of socialization largely depends on the class, estate of the individual. In the process of socialization, social norms and values of a certain era are appropriated as motives for individual-personal behavior, the basis of personal choices.
Family is a significant way of socialization both in pre-industrial societies and in modern cultures.
In modern developed countries, the content of socialization is radically rethought. In the new changing conditions, mobile mechanisms of socialization, special institutions of socialization are needed. First of all, the education system has become such an institution.
(G.G. Kirilenko)
Explanation.
The correct answer should state:
Subject area: Social relations. Socialization
What are the signs of a social group indicated in the text?
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
Group membership
In social psychology, a group is understood as two or more individuals who have common goals and stable relationships, as well as to a certain extent interdependent on each other and perceive themselves as part of this group ... At one end of the scale are groups of people who work together for years. It is obvious that they satisfy all the conditions of the definition. At the other end are people who have only short-term relationships with each other ...
People join social groups for a variety of reasons. First of all, groups help to satisfy important psychological or social problems, for example, the need for attention and love, experience of a sense of belonging. These are subtle but very important needs: Imagine living in complete social isolation! You wouldn't mind it at first, but in the end you would feel terribly alone.
Groups help us achieve goals that we could not accomplish alone. By collaborating with others, we are able to accomplish tasks that one person cannot cope with ... Membership in a group often provides us with knowledge and information that would otherwise not be available to us ...
Finally, group membership contributes to the formation of a positive social identity that becomes part of the “I-concept”. And what more number of prestigious groups with limited access to which a person was able to join, the more his “Self-concept” is strengthened.
Explanation.
The response names the following signs:
Having a common goal;
Having an established relationship;
The interdependence of people from each other;
People's awareness of belonging to one group.
What four groups of young people involved in labor did the authors identify? Using the content of the text, what is the main reason that prompts each group to work.
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
The participation in labor of 14-15-year-olds is the result of a decline in the standard of living of the population. The lower the family income, the more the family is interested in the teenager's labor activity. It is the family in this case can stimulate the termination of education and entry into the labor market of unskilled workers. Labor prospects of a young person in this case are unfavorable: there is a real danger of permanently gaining a foothold in the sphere of unskilled, as a rule, physical labor, which is fraught with lumpenization of the worker, his transition to marginal strata of society. Occasional participation of 14-15-year-old adolescents in labor activity, not accompanied by the termination of education (for example, during the summer school holidays), can be assessed as a positive phenomenon that meets the interests of the adolescent and society. In this case, we are talking about the initial stages of adaptation to work, about the development of a stereotype of work behavior in a market environment.
The conscious formation of material incentives to work is noted among 16-17-year-olds. This is due to the expansion of the volume of their material and spiritual needs, as well as the ongoing process of socialization. At the same age, there is an active search and choice of the type of future professional activity. Obtaining process professional knowledge, skills and abilities is most intense in the group of 18-20-year-olds. The specific terms of vocational training can, of course, vary depending on the specifics of the life conditions of a young person, his choice of the type and form of education. Therefore, in terms of a number of behavioral characteristics, this group adjoins the group of 21-24 year olds. Within this framework, the majority of young people complete vocational training and strive no longer for occasional, but for permanent employment.
Among the characteristics of labor activity, job security, opportunities for professional development and job growth are highlighted. Therefore, young people strive to acquire additional skills and abilities. It is at the age of 21-24 that most young people experience the so-called "reality shock" associated with the fact that their ideal ideas about their future work activity collide with real setting at work. The period of the initial stage of a career, characterized by joining the organization and finding one's place in it, falls on the same age.
(G. G. Rudenko, A. R. Savelov)
Explanation.
The correct answer should indicate the groups and the motivating reasons for each of them, for example:
1) 14-15 year olds - the need to help the family;
2) 16-17-year-olds young people - expanding the scope of needs, professional self-determination;
3) 18-20 years old young people - the needs of vocational education;
4) 21-24-year-olds young people - striving for permanent employment, career growth. The motivating reasons for each group can be given in other, similar formulations.
Subject area: Social relations. Youth as a social group
In what four areas is it possible, according to the author, for a conflict to arise? How is the contradictory nature of the conflict manifested?
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
If we proceed from a large number of socio-psychological studies aimed at finding ways to eliminate conflict from the intrapersonal sphere, the sphere of interpersonal, intragroup and intergroup relations, then it is easy to come to the erroneous conclusion that the conflict plays only a negative role, performs only a destructive function. In reality, however, social conflict, being one of the most striking manifestations of contradiction, is itself internally contradictory, performing not only destructive, but also constructive function.<...>
The manifestations of the destructive functions of the conflict are extremely diverse. Intrapersonal conflict, for example, gives rise to a state of psychological discomfort, which, in turn, entails a series of various negative consequences and, in extreme cases, can lead to the destruction of the personality. At the group level, a conflict can disrupt the system of communications, relationships, weaken value-orientational unity, reduce group cohesion and, as a result, lower the effectiveness of the group as a whole. Similarly, the destructive functions of conflict are manifested in intergroup relationships. Note that the destructive influence of a conflict can take place at each of the stages of its evolution: the stage of an objective conflict situation, the stage of its awareness by the parties, the stage of conflict behavior, as well as at the stage of conflict resolution. Especially sharply destructive effects of the conflict are usually found at the stage of conflict behavior, conflict actions.
The constructive effects of conflict are also manifold. So, it is well known that intrapersonal conflict is not only able to provide Negative influence on the personality, but also often serves as a powerful source of personality development, its improvement. In group and intergroup relations, conflict can help prevent stagnation, serves as a source of innovation, development. Conflict, especially at the stage of conflict behavior, plays a cognitive role, the role of practical verification and correction of the images of the situation that the parties have. In addition, by revealing, exposing the objective contradictions that exist between the members of the group (groups), and eliminating them at the stage of resolution, the conflict frees the group from the factors that undermine it and thereby contributes to its stabilization. It is also well known that an external conflict can fulfill an integrative function, rallying a group in the face of external danger and external problems.
(L.A. Petrovskaya)
Explanation.
The correct answer should contain the following the elements:
Intrapersonal sphere;
Sphere of interpersonal relations;
Sphere of intragroup relations;
Sphere of intergroup relations;
2) an explanation of the contradictory nature of the conflict,
for example: a social conflict plays not only a destructive, but also a constructive role in the development of an individual, a group, and society as a whole. The explanation can be given in a different, close in meaning form.
Four areas are correctly named and an explanation is given.
Subject area: Social relations. Social conflict
What is the definition of education in modern countries leads the author? Indicate four positions that, according to the author, constitute the social role of education.
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
Education as a social institution Education in modern countries is a very broad and highly developed differentiated multilevel social systems(subsystems of society) continuous improvement of knowledge and skills of members of society, performing crucial role in the socialization of the individual, its preparation for obtaining a particular social status and the fulfillment of the corresponding roles, in the stabilization, integration and improvement of social systems. Education has a very important role in determining the social status of an individual, in the reproduction and development of the social structure of society, in maintaining social order and stability, and in exercising social control.
Education, along with the army, church and industry, is one of the lifts of social mobility. Having received knowledge and high qualifications in modern society, it is much easier to make a career than a) it was in pre-industrial and industrial society, b) if a person did not possess them.
For a long time to this day, education as a social institution has been the main mechanism of social testing, selection and distribution of individuals by social strata and groups. The education system was entrusted with the functions of social control over the processes of intellectual, moral, physical development of the young generation. And on the system of professional education, in addition, also the functions of control over the distribution of the generation entering an independent working life, in various cells of the social structure of society: classes, social groups, strata, production collectives.
Thus, education is one of the main channels of social mobility, playing an important role in the social differentiation of members of society, their distribution both among social strata and within these strata. The position of an individual in society, the possibilities for his successful promotion up the career ladder are determined by the quality of the education received, which is largely related to the prestige of the educational institution.
The way it is. An uneducated person cannot get a highly paid and responsible job, no matter what social background he may be. The educated and the uneducated have unequal life chances, but the situation can always be corrected by raising one's qualifications, one has only to apply individual conditions. This is what distinguishes educational inequality from other types of inequality, say, inherited, in that it puts a person in an unprivileged position temporarily. But if you were born the son of a king or a hereditary nobleman, then this is already forever. Nothing can be done about such inequality based on prescribed statuses.
(G.E. Tadevosyan)
Explanation.
1) The definition is given:
Education in modern countries is a very broad and highly developed differentiated multi-level social systems (subsystems of society) of continuous improvement of the knowledge and skills of members of society, which play an important role in the socialization of the individual, his preparation for obtaining a particular social status and performing the corresponding roles, in stabilization, integration and improvement of social systems.
2) Four positions are indicated that reveal the social role of education:
- in determining the social status of a person;
- in the reproduction and development of the social structure of society;
- maintaining social order and stability;
- implementation of social control.
The elements of the answer can be given in other, similar formulations.
Subject area: Social relations. Social stratification and mobility, Man and society. The main institutions of society
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
Social roles is a term actively used by both social psychology and sociology. It focuses on the universal, universal requirements for the behavior of a person in a certain social position.
Social status and social role are two sides of the same phenomenon. (...) Status describes a society in immobility, that is, it reveals a statistical picture of the world. The role describes a society in motion, that is, it reveals a dynamic picture of the world. (...)
Social role is a model of behavior focused on this status... It can be defined in another way - as a stereotyped type of behavior aimed at fulfilling the rights and obligations assigned to a specific status. A role describes how status holders interact with each other.
In the link between the concepts of "status-role", the leading place belongs to the first one. That is why the expression "status role" is found in the literature, but "role status" never comes across.
The term "role" is borrowed from the theatrical sphere, where it was intended to emphasize the difference between the actor and the part performed. Many famous actors have tried themselves in the role of Hamlet, just as many graduates of a medical school become doctors.
People cannot behave the way they please. They obey what everyone thinks is right for the role. To a large extent, the behavior of the student is predictable, because the student is a definite role. The same goes for a teacher, salesman, or statesman. We all know what these people have to do, no matter how much personality they put into their role. In general, all teachers or salespeople behave in a similar way.
(...) “The whole world is a theater, all the people in it are actors, and everyone plays more than one role,” said the great Shakespeare. And if we consider the world as a stage, then we really have to play a great many roles on this stage. We are all sons and daughters, husbands and wives, subordinates and leaders, speakers and listeners, passengers, spectators, specialists, etc. Moreover, this entire repertoire lives inside us at the same time, and each subsequent role is included as we move from one situation to another. We have to be in some of these roles for a longer time, in some relatively insignificant; we cope with some of the roles without difficulty, others are barely bearable for us.
People fulfill many social roles in society. Their distinguishing feature is that the role of father or teacher remains the same if the people in these roles change. It is in this way that predictability and order in society are achieved.
(A.I. Kravchenko)
Explanation.
The correct answer should contain the following elements:
A stereotyped type of behavior aimed at fulfilling the rights and obligations assigned to a specific status.
2. The distinctive feature of the social role is indicated:
The role will remain the same even if the people in that role change.
Can be formulated
C1. From which two groups of phenomena do social phenomena differ, according to the author?
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
When I act as a brother, spouse, or citizen, (...) I fulfill duties established outside of me and my actions by law and custom. Even when they agree with my own feelings and when I acknowledge their existence in my soul, the latter still remains objective, since I did not create them myself, but they were instilled in me by upbringing.
How often we do not know the details of the duties imposed on us, and in order to find them out, we are forced to cope with the code and consult with its authorized interpreters!
The system of signs that I use to express my thoughts, the system of coins I use to pay off my debts, the instruments of credit that serve me in my business dealings, the customs observed in my profession, etc. - they all function regardless of the use that I make of them. Let them take one by one all the members of the society, and all that has been said can be repeated about each of them. Consequently, these ways of thinking, acting and feeling have the wonderful property that they exist outside of individual consciousness.
These types of behavior or thoughts are not only outside the individual, but also have a coercive force, as a result of which he is forced to them, regardless of his description. Of course, when I voluntarily agree with them, this compulsion, being useless, is felt little or not at all; nevertheless, it is characteristic of these facts, as evidenced by the fact that it appears as soon as I try to resist. If I am an industrialist, then no one forbids me to work, using the techniques and methods of the last century, but if I do this, I will probably go broke. Even if in fact I can free myself from these rules and successfully break them, I can only do so after fighting them; even if in the end they are defeated, they nevertheless give enough to feel their coercive power by the resistance they offer. There is no innovator, not even a happy one, whose businesses do not face this kind of opposition.
This is, therefore, a category of facts that differ in specific properties; it is composed of images of thoughts, actions and feelings that are outside the individual and endowed with a coercive force, as a result of which he is forced to
him. Hence, they cannot be confused either with organic phenomena, since they consist of representations and actions, or with mental phenomena that exist only in the individual consciousness and thanks to it. They constitute, therefore, the new kind, and they should be given the name social.
(E. Durkheim)
Explanation.
The correct answer should contain the following elements.
Two groups of phenomena are indicated, from which social phenomena differ:
Organic, consisting of views and actions;
Mental, existing only in the individual consciousness.
Subject area: Social relations. Types of social norms
C1. Expand the meaning of the concept of "nation" within the framework of each of the three approaches considered in the text: political and legal, sociocultural, biological.
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
National relations, i.e. relations of people in a community called a nation, or other ethno-national relations, do not exist separately from the state or in parallel with it. National and ethno-national relations are somehow mediated by the state and form a single political whole.
There are three main approaches to understanding the nation: political and legal, sociocultural and biological. In the political and legal approach, a nation is understood as co-citizenship, i.e. community of citizens of a particular state. In international law, when they talk about nations, they mean precisely political, nations, which in the international arena act as “national” states.
With a sociocultural approach, the emphasis is on the commonality of language, culture, religion, traditions, customs of a large group of people forming a nation. This allows us to consider a nation as a community of people who are characterized by a common spiritual culture, historical development, behavioral stereotypes, and everyday life. It should be borne in mind that a nation is also a subjective phenomenon of consciousness and self-awareness.
E. Gellner, a well-known researcher of the phenomenon of the nation, noted: “Two people belong to the same nation if and only if they recognize each other's belonging to this nation. In other words, a nation is created by man; nations are a product of human convictions, preferences and inclinations. "
Most countries in the world base their understanding of a nation on the first two approaches. For all their differences, they have one thing in common - the denial of consanguinity as a determining nation-forming principle.
The third approach to understanding the nation, biological, is precisely based on the recognition of the blood community as the main dominant of the nation.
(Yu.V. Irkhin, V.D. Zotov, L.V. Zotova)
Explanation.
In the answer, the meaning of the concept of "nation" should be disclosed within the framework of three approaches:
1) political and legal: the community of citizens of a particular state;
2) sociocultural: a community of people who are characterized by a common spiritual culture, historical development, behavioral stereotypes, everyday life;
3) biological: recognition of the blood community as the main dominant of the nation.
The meaning of the concept can be given in other, similar in meaning, formulations
Subject area: Social relations. Ethnic communities
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
Social equality is an ideal that, over the centuries, reflected the perennial craving of people for justice and inspired mass social movements and humanistic currents of social thought. Historical practice confirms that complete equality is unattainable. And not only because of the differences in abilities and inclinations inherent in people by nature itself, but also because of the unequal social status, quality and productivity of their work. In this sense, inequality between people is unavoidable and only changes its shape and size.
The impact of inequality on society is also ambiguous. The desire to take a higher position on the ladder of the property hierarchy encourages people to improve the efficiency of their activities and social status. Attempts to introduce an equal distribution of property and income only undermine economic development. But, having exceeded a certain level, property inequality loses its stimulating role, turns into a negative factor in social life. Excessive wealth, especially easily acquired, like marginal poverty, dampens the impulses of economic development, generates social tension, and undermines the political stability of society. To the extent that social inequality is conducive to economic and sociocultural development and the stability of society, it can be considered normal. It becomes excessive when it weakens the incentives for economic activity, creates hotbeds of tension fraught with social upheaval.
The problem of excessive social inequality becomes most acute during periods of social transformations, when the established structures of equality and inequality are dismantled, and new mechanisms for the distribution of material goods, social services, values of life and culture are still being formed.
(V.A.Medvedev, Yu.A. Krasin)
Explanation.
The response should include reasons:
1) differences in abilities and inclinations inherent in nature itself;
2) unequal social status;
3) the unevenness of the quality of labor;
4) the unevenness of productivity.
The reasons can be given in other, similar formulations.
What is crime? In its most general form, as formulated by criminological science, crime is not the sum of crimes, but a massive, historically changing, relatively independent socio-legal phenomenon that obeys certain laws and has its reasons ... To understand the nature of crime, it is important to keep in mind that it reflects the features, contradictions and deformations of social life. It is legitimate to say that crime is an extreme expression of the contradictions of social development, entailing such negative consequences for society and its members that none of the other phenomena of the social process entails. Crime damages economic, ideological, socio-cultural and other relations in society, law and order in it, life, health, interests of the individual, “withdraws” its members from the normal life and creative activity of society. Crime is a social phenomenon, because it is rooted in the depths of social relations, but it is also a legal phenomenon, because only those acts that are provided for by criminal law are criminal. ... All human experience says that an overestimation of criminal penalties, an overabundance of criminal laws have never led to positive results in the fight against crime. Quite the opposite. Cruelty breeds cruelty in response. Criminal law and criminal repression must be economical, reasonable and humane. (Karpets V.I.)
Explanation.
Factors should be named in the correct answer:
1) contradictions (deformations) of social relations;
2) overestimation of the significance of criminal penalties (“cruelty gives rise to reciprocal cruelty”).
Subject area: Social relations. Deviant behavior and its types
How is this connection expressed?
Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.
Any person holding a high social position in society strives to correspond to his status and behave properly. From a person with the status of a banker, those around them expect very specific actions and do not expect others who do not correspond to their ideas about this status. Consequently, status and social role link people's expectations. If expectations are formally expressed and fixed in any acts (laws) or in customs, traditions, rituals, they have the character of social norms.
Although expectations may not be fixed, they do not cease to be expectations from this. Despite this, people expect from the holder of a specific status that he will play a very specific role in accordance with the requirements that they make for this role. The society prescribes the requirements and norms of behavior to the status in advance. For the correct performance of the role, the individual is rewarded, for the wrong one is punished.
A status-oriented behavior model includes a set of status rights and responsibilities. Rights mean the ability to perform certain actions due to status. The higher the status, the more rights are given to its owner and the more responsibilities are assigned to him.
The status-oriented behavior model also has external marks of distinction. Clothing is a social symbol that serves three main functions: comfort, decency, and ostentatious expression.
The function of status symbols is also performed by housing, language, demeanor, and leisure.
(R.T.Mukhaev)
Explanation.
The correct answer should contain the following elements:
1) the link between status and role is indicated: people's expectations;
2) the nature of the relationship between status and role is revealed, for example: occupation of a certain position (status) presupposes a certain behavior (a person behaves properly).
The elements of the answer can be given in other, similar formulations.
Subject area: Social relations. Social role
Source: Demo version of the Unified State Exam-2013 in Social Studies.
What new class of post-industrial society is being noted by the author? What is the reason for the appearance of this class he names? What, in the opinion of most sociologists, should have been a consequence of the emergence of a new class?
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
The modern information revolution leads to the formation of a new class in post-industrial societies, which we have called the "class of intellectuals." Western sociologists drew attention to this as early as the late 1950s; Moreover, it is very characteristic that no negative consequences were visible behind this process at that time. Since, according to popular belief, "information is the most democratic source of power," most researchers came to the conclusion that the formation of a dominant class that is non-capitalist in nature leads to overcoming the class nature of society, making it classless in the long run.
However, real socio-economic processes are increasingly contradicting such assumptions. With each new stage of the technological revolution, the "class of intellectuals" gains more and more power and redistributes more and more of the social wealth in their favor. In the emerging new economic system, the process of self-growth of the value of information goods is largely divorced from material production. As a result, the "intellectual class" is dependent on all other strata of society to a much lesser extent than the ruling classes of feudal or bourgeois societies were dependent on the activities of the peasants or proletarians exploited by them. This creates the preconditions for the appearance on the historical scene of yet another class, uniting in its ranks those who are not able to actively participate in high-tech production. His share in public wealth is steadily declining, leaving no room for advanced training and replenishment of the "class of intellectuals." This social group, for the time being associated with the lower strata of the proletariat, by the beginning of the 90s acquired a pronounced class certainty, and it is impossible not to take it into account when analyzing the problems of modern society.
(B. L. Inozemtsev)
Explanation.
The correct answer should include:
Formation of the "class of intellectuals"
Reason for appearance: modern information revolution;
Consequence: the formation of a dominant class that is non-capitalist in nature leads to overcoming the class character of society, making it classless in the long run.
Subject area: Social relations. Social stratification and mobility
Source: Unified State Exam in Social Science 06/10/2013. The main wave. Centre. Option 5.
What two criteria for distinguishing generations are the authors talking about? What, in their opinion, does the mobility of generation boundaries depend on?
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
The identification of a generation as a certain social community of people is based on two interrelated moments: age differentiation of people in society and the nature of social activity. Using a demographic approach, in which “generation” is defined as the population of people of the same year of birth or the time interval between the average ages of parents and their children, it is possible to divide the population into age periods.
The age criterion is the criterion by which we, first of all, judge the belonging of an individual to a certain generation. The age limit is an objective measure due to the natural differentiation of people. It is extremely difficult to unequivocally determine the age interval of a generation. In any case, the generation and the age group are not identical. The age feature fixes the quantitative aspect, but the generations, naturally, differ not only in quantitative characteristics. The sociological concept of a generation covers several age groups. Generational boundaries are not absolute; they are mobile and depend on the period of existence of human society, life expectancy, which, in turn, is determined by socio-economic, political, historical and other factors.
A generation as a definite aggregate is a bearer of common properties and relationships. Therefore, another essential feature is the social one, which gives the generation a qualitative certainty. When we talk about the qualitative characteristics of a social attribute, we mean two points: the content of the social activity of a generation and the direction of its social actions ... People of the same generation participate in the same events and experience their influence. Of course, the attitude to these phenomena and events, and the influence of the latter on various groups of the generation are different, nevertheless, the entire generation as a whole bears the stamp of those historical events in which it was directly involved ...
The introduction of the concept of the parental generation is necessary today, in our opinion, to designate the social differentiation of the group, which in Russian sociology was called "fathers". Under the conditions of a stable hierarchy of social values, the entire adult population of the country in relation to young people - their parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers - really fell into the group of "fathers". Today, a radical qualitative breakdown of value systems is especially acutely manifested in the crisis of the educational function of the parental generation. The socialization of the new generation is taking place against the background of a change in the hierarchy of values, and hence the destabilization of educational guidelines in the institution of the family.
(V.V. Gavrilyuk and others.)
Explanation.
The correct answer must include:
Criteria:
1) age;
2) social
Border mobility depends on:
"from the period of existence of human society, life expectancy, which, in turn, is determined by socio-economic, political, historical and other factors."
Subject area: Social relations. Social groups
Source: Unified State Exam in Social Science 06/10/2013. The main wave. Siberia. Option 1.
List any two functions of social norms named by the author.
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
Social norms are generally accepted or fairly common patterns, rules of behavior for people, means of regulating their interaction. They protect public life from chaos and drift, direct its course in the right direction. The number of social norms includes moral, legal, political, aesthetic, religious, family, corporate, customary norms, etc. Law was formed much later than other normative systems and mainly on their basis. It has become more rigid and purposeful in regulating economic and other relations. Historically, law arises as if to compensate for the "insufficiency" of morality, which is revealed with the emergence of private property and political power. Subsequently, the norms of law and morality were closely intertwined, interacting with other means of social regulation.<...>Therefore, it is very important to identify the close relationship between law and morality.<.. .="">
By the nature of their work, lawyers study, interpret, apply, first of all, legal norms - this is their specialty. But to assess the behavior of the subjects of legal relations and the correct resolution of emerging conflicts, they constantly turn to ethical criteria, for the basis of law is morality. Russian legal scholars have invariably emphasized that law is a legally formalized morality. Law is a means of realizing the moral and humanistic ideals of society. Law is unthinkable without lessons of morality, morality, ethics.
B.C. Solovyov, for example, defined law as "a compulsory requirement for the implementation of a minimum of good and order that does not allow for a known manifestation of evil."<...>Law and morality differ in the way they are established. Legal norms are created by the state, and only the state (or with its consent by some public organizations) are canceled, supplemented, changed. In this sense, the state is the political creator of law. Therefore, the law expresses not just the will of the people, but their state will and acts not just as a regulator, but as a special, state regulator.
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
Socialization goes through stages that coincide with the so-called life cycles. They mark the most important milestones in a person's biography, which may well serve as qualitative stages in the formation of the social "I": entering a university (student life cycle), marriage (family life cycle), career choice and employment (labor cycle), military service (army cycle), retirement (retirement cycle).
Life cycles are associated with a change in social roles, with the acquisition of a new status, abandonment of previous habits, environment, friendly contacts, change familiar image life.
Each time, passing to a new step, entering into new cycle, a person has to retrain a lot. This process splits into two stages, which have received special names in sociology.
Weaning from old values, norms, roles and rules of behavior is called desocialization.
The principle, according to which the development of personality throughout life is ascending and is built on the basis of consolidating the past, is immutable. But the personality traits that were formed earlier are not unshakable. Resocialization is the assimilation of new values, roles, skills instead of the old ones, insufficiently mastered or outdated. Resocialization encompasses many activities, from classes to improve reading skills to professional retraining of workers. Psychotherapy is also a form of resocialization. Under its influence, people try to sort out their conflicts and change their behavior based on this understanding.
Desocialization and resocialization are two sides of the same process, namely, adult, or continued, socialization.
In childhood and adolescence, while an individual is being brought up in a family and school, as a rule, no drastic changes in his life occur, except for the divorce or death of his parents, the continuation of upbringing in a boarding school or an orphanage. Its socialization proceeds smoothly and represents the accumulation of new knowledge, values, norms. The first major change occurs only with the entry into adulthood.
Although the process of socialization continues at this age, it changes significantly. Now desocialization and resocialization are coming to the fore. Sometimes a person finds himself in such extreme conditions, where desocialization goes so deep that it turns into the destruction of the moral foundations of the personality, and resocialization is superficial. She is not able to restore all the wealth of lost values, norms and roles.
(V. V. Kasyanov, V. N. Nechipurenko, S. I. Samygin)
Explanation.
The correct answer should contain the following elements.
1. Two sides of adult socialization are indicated:
desocialization
resocialization
2. The essence of each of them has been determined.
Desocialization is weaning from old values, norms, roles and rules of behavior.
Resocialization is the assimilation of new values, roles, skills instead of the previous ones, insufficiently mastered or outdated.
Any social movement occurs not simply in connection with the emergence of desire, but by overcoming more or less significant barriers. Even a person's moving from one place of residence to another presupposes a certain period of adaptation to new conditions.
All social movements of an individual or social group are included in the process of mobility. According to P. Sorokin's definition, “social mobility is understood as any transition of an individual, or a social object, or value, created or modified through activity, from one social position to another” ...
Society can raise the status of some individuals and lower the status of others. And this is understandable: some individuals possessing talent, energy, youth, should oust other individuals who do not possess these qualities from higher statuses. Depending on this, a distinction is made between upward and downward social mobility, or social upsurge and social decline. Upward currents of professional, economic and political mobility exist in two main forms: as an individual rise from the lower stratum to the higher one and as the creation of new groups of individuals with the inclusion of groups in the upper stratum next to the existing groups of this stratum or instead of them. Similarly, downward mobility exists both in the form of pushing individual individuals from high social status to lower ones, and in the form of lowering the social status of an entire group ...
In order to understand how the ascent process takes place, it is important to study how an individual can overcome barriers and boundaries between groups and rise up, i.e. to improve their social, professional, economic and political status. This desire to achieve a higher status is due to the achievement motive that each individual has to one degree or another, and is associated with his need to achieve success and avoid failures in the social aspect. The actualization of this motive ultimately generates the force with which the individual strives to achieve the highest social position or to stay on the existing one and not slide down.
(S. S. Frolov)
Explanation.
The correct answer should contain the following elements.
1) Definition of social mobility. "The transition of an individual, or a social object, or value, created or modified through activity, from one social position to another."
A huge amount of research has been devoted to analyzing the impact of certain types of television programs on the social attitudes of children and adults, but no definitive answers have been received. There is no consensus, for example, on the extent to which the display of violence causes aggressive behavior in children. But there is no doubt that the mass media have a profound impact on the attitudes and worldview of people. They convey all the variety of information that cannot be obtained in any other way ...
In our time, only a small part of societies, including among traditional cultures, have remained outside the field of action of the media. The means of electronic communication are accessible even to the completely illiterate; in the most remote regions of the third world, you can often find people who have radios or televisions.
There are as many socialization agents as there are groups and social contexts in which individuals spend any significant part of their lives. Work in all cultures is the most important environment in which the process of socialization takes place, although only in industrialized societies do a huge number of people “go to work”, ie. spend several hours each day in a workplace separate from home. In traditional societies, many cultivate the land near where they live or work in workshops from home. “Work” in such societies is not as distinct from other activities as is the case for most of the workforce in the West. In industrialized countries, the beginning of “going to work” implies much more changes in a person's life than the beginning of a labor activity in traditional societies. The circumstances of the work put forward unusual requirements, forcing a person to fundamentally change their worldview and behavior.
Although the local community tends to influence socialization in modern societies to a much lesser extent than in other types of social order, its influence cannot be completely ruled out. Even in large cities, there are highly developed groups and organizations of residents (voluntary societies, clubs, churches) that have a huge impact on the thoughts and actions of those who take part in their activities.
A. Giddens
Explanation.
Three groups of socialization agents should be named in the correct answer:
1) mass media (printed publications, electronic means of communication, certain types of television programs);
2) work (labor collective, work circumstances);
3) highly developed groups and organizations of residents (local community, voluntary societies, clubs, churches).
Read the text and complete tasks C1-C4.
Sociology has many practical influences on our lives. Sociological thinking and research contribute to practical policy and social reform in several ways. The most direct way is to provide a clearer or more accurate understanding of the social situation. This can be done either at the level of factual knowledge, or by gaining a more accurate understanding of why something is happening (in other words, by means of theoretical justification). For example, research can show that a much larger proportion of the population lives in poverty than is commonly believed. Any attempt to improve living standards is more likely to succeed if it is based on accurate and not erroneous information. The more we know about why poverty remains pervasive, the more likely it is that effective action will be taken against it.
A second way that sociology can contribute to practical politics is by helping to foster greater cultural sensitivity towards different groups in society. Sociological research allows us to look at the social world as a variety of cultural perspectives, and this helps to eliminate the prejudices of different groups towards each other. One cannot be considered an enlightened politician without a developed understanding of differences in cultural values. Practical politics, which is not based on an awareness of the lifestyle of those to whom it is oriented, has little chance of success ...
Third, case study has practical significance when assessing the results of political initiatives. The program of practical transformation may not achieve the goals set by its creators, or entail a series of unforeseen consequences of an undesirable nature ...
Fourthly, and, perhaps, this is the most important thing, sociology can give social groups a more enlightened idea of themselves, increase their self-understanding. The more people know about the conditions of their own activities, about how society functions, the more likely they will be able to influence the circumstances of their own lives. It would be misleading to think of the practical role of sociology only as helping politicians or power groups make informed decisions ... Highly self-aware groups can effectively respond to the actions of government officials and other influential people, and can also put forward their own political initiatives.
A. Giddens
Explanation.
The correct answer must contain the following elements:
1) two spheres (areas, directions):
- practical policy;
- social reforms;
2) the answer to the second question: this can be done either at the level of factual knowledge, or by acquiring a more correct understanding of why something is happening (in other words, by means of theoretical justification).
(The answer to the second question can be given in a different formulation that is similar in meaning.)
Subject area: Social relations. Social groups, Man and society. The science
Sociologists note important distinction between the goals of action - when we intentionally do something - and unintended consequences, to which actions lead. By following this path, you can learn a lot about the development of societies. For example, schools exist to enable children to acquire new knowledge. However, the existence of schools has consequences that are not easy to recognize or foresee. Until a certain age, the school does not allow children to enter the labor market. School system also reinforces inequality by shaping students' future jobs according to their academic performance.
Most of the major changes in history were probably unintentional. Before the 1917 revolution, various political groups in Russia tried to overthrow the existing regime. However, none of them, including the Bolshevik Party that eventually came to power, could foresee the actual revolutionary process that took place. A series of minor tensions and confrontations have spawned a process of social transformation that is far more radical than anyone would have expected.
Sometimes actions taken with a specific goal have consequences that actually impede the achievement of that goal. For example, a few years ago in New York, laws were passed requiring owners of homes in disrepair and located in low-income areas to bring these homes to a certain minimum standard. The purpose of the law is to improve the basic level of housing for low-income members of society. The result is the opposite. The owners of worn-out buildings either abandoned them altogether or adapted them for other purposes; thus, the number of habitable houses has dropped significantly. Similar examples can be found by looking at the problem of prisons and insane asylums. Over the past few years in Britain and some others Western countries the process of isolating people from society has been partially changed. Some of the inmates of prisons and psychiatric hospitals were released to live in outside world- in this way, public concern for the mentally ill was shown. The result, however, turned out to be the opposite of that expected by the liberal reformers who supported the innovation. Many former patients of psychiatric hospitals found themselves in utter poverty, they could not adapt to the new environment. The consequences of this decision were dire for many.
Continuity and change in social life can be thought of as a “mixture” of the intentional and unintended consequences of human actions.
(33 pages) The task of sociology is to investigate the resulting balance between social reproduction and transformation. Social reproduction shows how societies "sustain their lives" over time, transformation refers to the changes that societies are subject to. Society is not mechanical device like a clock or motor that “keeps it going” because it has a built-in power source. Social reproduction is a consequence of the continuity of actions that people perform from day to day and from year to year, as well as the continuity of various social practices that people follow. Change occurs partly in accordance with the intentions of the people who make them, and partly, as the example of the 1917 revolution shows, as a result of consequences that no one wanted or foreseen.
What can sociology say about our actions?
As individuals, we all know quite a lot about ourselves and about the society in which we live. We are used to thinking that we understand well why we act this way and not otherwise, and do not need tips from sociologists! And to some extent this is true. Many of the things we do in our daily lives are driven by our own understanding of existing social conventions. And yet there are certain limits to such self-knowledge, and one of the main tasks of sociology is to show that they are.
Based on the discussion that follows, we should be able to shed light on the nature of these limitations with relative ease. As we have said, people make a lot of common sense judgments about themselves and others that are wrong, incomplete, or the result of poor awareness. Sociological research helps us define the boundaries of our social judgments and at the same time adjusts our knowledge about ourselves and our social environment. Another significant contribution of sociology lies in the assertion that, although we all understand most of what we do and why, we often have a rather poor idea of the consequences of our actions. The unintended and unforeseen consequences of actions affect all aspects and contexts of social life. Sociological analysis explores the subtle and subtle connection between intentional and unintentional phenomena social peace.
Social structure and human action
An important concept that helps our understanding of social connections is the concept social structure. The social environment in which we exist is not simply a jumbled collection of events and actions. In the behavior of people, in the relationships in which they enter, certain deep regularities are observed. Connected with these regularities is the idea of social structure. To some extent, the structural characteristics of society are conveniently described by analogy with the structure of a building. The building has walls, a floor and a roof that give it a specific shape. But the given metaphor should not be taken too literally, it can lead away from the essence of the matter. Social structures are defined by human actions and relationships; the stability of structures, their completeness are determined by their repeatability in time and space. Thus, within the framework of the sociological approach, the ideas of social (34str) reproduction and social structure are extremely closely related. Therefore, we can understand human societies like buildings, which are recreated at every moment using the very bricks of which they were composed. All our actions are influenced by the structural characteristics of the societies in which we grew up and live, and at the same time, through our actions, we ourselves create (and also to some extent change) these structural characteristics.
Development of a sociological worldview
Teaching sociological thinking means developing the power of the imagination. The study of sociology cannot take place as a routine process of acquiring knowledge. A sociologist is a person who is able to free himself from immediate personal circumstances. The work of a sociologist, as Charles Wright Mills famously put it, depends on "Sociological imagination" 6). Most sociology textbooks draw attention to this term. But, unlike Mills himself, they usually use it completely without any imagination.
Sociological imagination first of all presupposes the ability to “detach” from the usual routine of our daily life in order to look at it in a new way. Consider the simplest act of drinking a cup of coffee. What can be said from a sociological point of view about such an apparently insignificant fragment of our behavior? The answer is extremely high.
First of all, it can be pointed out that coffee is not only a drink that helps maintain the necessary supply of fluid. It has a symbolic meaning as one of the daily social rituals. Moreover, the ritual associated with drinking coffee is more important than the actual act of consuming the drink. For example, two people about to “have a cup of coffee” are likely more passionate about the meeting and the opportunity to chat than the drink. Eating and drinking in all societies is an opportunity for social interaction and ritual, and therefore they represent a rich topic for sociological research.
Second, coffee is a caffeine-containing drug that has a stimulating effect on the brain. Coffee drinkers are not perceived as "addicts" by most Westerners. Why this is so is an interesting sociological question. Like alcohol, coffee is a “socially acceptable” drug, but marijuana, for example, is not. However, there are cultures that tolerate marijuana consumption but reject coffee and alcohol. (For further discussion of these issues, see Chapter 5, “Conformity and Deviant Behavior.”)
Third, behind a cup of coffee is a network of complex social and economic relationships that span the world. The production, delivery and sale of coffee requires continuous economic operations involving many people thousands of miles away from coffee drinkers. The study of such global interactions is important task sociology, since many aspects of our life today depend on world trade exchange and relations.
Finally, behind the act of enjoying a cup of coffee is a process of social and economic development that has taken place. Coffee, like many other foods now familiar to the West, such as tea, bananas, potatoes and sugar, became widely used only since the 19th century. Although coffee came from the Middle (35str) East, the beginning of its mass consumption is the period of Western colonial expansion, about one and a half centuries ago. Virtually all coffee consumed in Western countries today comes from South America and Africa, which were formerly colonies of Europeans.
The development of the sociological imagination means the use of materials not only from sociology, but also anthropology(study of traditional societies) and history. The anthropological direction is extremely important for the development of the sociological imagination, because it allows us to see a kaleidoscope of various forms of social life. By comparing them to our own lives, we learn more about the unique characteristics of our behavior. The historical direction of the sociological imagination is just as fundamental: we can only comprehend the special nature of our modern world if we compare it with the past. The past is a mirror, looking into which the sociologist can understand the present. In each of these cases, it implies “detachment” from our own customs and habits - for a deeper understanding of them.
Yet Mills' main emphasis was on another aspect of the sociological imagination - our possibilities for the future. Sociology not only helps us analyze existing types social life, but also allows us to see the “possible future” open to us. The free striving of sociological thought provides an opportunity to penetrate into the essence of not only what is happening, but also what can happen if we act in any way. Our attempts to influence the future will be in vain if they are not based on a developed sociological understanding of existing trends.
Is sociology a science?
Sociology ranks first in a group of disciplines (including anthropology, economics, and political science) commonly referred to as social sciences. But can we really study the social life of people in a “scientific” way? To answer this question, it is necessary to consider the main characteristics of science as a form of intellectual activity. What is the science?
Science is the use of systematic research methods, theoretical thinking and logical assessment of arguments in order to develop knowledge about a particular subject. Scientific work consists of a mixture of very bold thinking and careful selection of data to prove or disprove hypotheses and theories. The information and insights gained from scientific research and discussion are always to some extent preliminary and open to revision, and in some cases even to completely abandon them.
When we ask “is sociology a science,” we mean two things: “can this discipline be constructed according to the procedures of the natural sciences” and “can sociology achieve the same level of accurate and well-founded knowledge that the natural sciences have developed in relation to the physical world ”. These points have always been somewhat controversial, but for a long time most sociologists answered them in the affirmative. They believed that sociology can and should be likened to natural sciences both in its procedures and in the nature of the data obtained (the point of view, sometimes called positivism).
Now this view looks naive. Like other social “sciences”, sociology is a scientific discipline in the sense that it has (36 pages) systematic methods of collecting and analyzing data, methods of evaluating theories in the light of evidence and logical arguments. However, the study of human beings is different from the study of the events of the physical world, and therefore neither the logical framework nor the conclusions of sociology can be correctly understood in simple comparisons with natural science. In the study of social life, the sociologist is confronted with actions, significant for the people who commit them. Unlike objects of nature, people have self-knowledge, they see meaning and purpose in what they do. It is impossible to accurately describe social life unless we first of all grasp the meaning that people put into their activities. For example, to describe death as “suicide,” one must have knowledge of what intentions the person had at the time of death. “Suicide” takes place only if the individual actively seeks self-destruction. A person who accidentally steps under a car and dies cannot be considered a suicide; death was not his goal.
The fact that we cannot study human beings in exactly the same way as objects of nature, on the one hand gives sociology advantages, and on the other, creates difficulties that natural scientists do not have. The advantage is that sociologists can ask questions of those they study - other human beings. On the other hand, people who know that their actions are being scrutinized often begin to behave differently than usual. For example, when an individual fills out a questionnaire, he can consciously or unconsciously give an idea of himself that is different from the real one. He may even try to “help” the researcher by giving the answers he thinks are expected of him.
Objectivity
In their research and theoretical quest, sociologists try to be impartial, trying to study the world without bias. A good sociologist takes every opportunity to cast aside prejudices that can get in the way of an unbiased assessment of ideas or facts. But no one can be completely impartial in all respects, and it is very difficult to develop an impartial view of controversial subjects. but objectivity does not depend exclusively, and even primarily, on the worldview of a certain researcher. It is based on observation and argumentation methods. The public nature of the discipline is important here. Since the findings and reports of researchers are available for review, being published in the form of articles, monographs and books, certain conclusions can be verified. Assertions made on the basis of research results can be critically assessed, and the personal inclinations of the researcher are ignored by others.
Thus, objectivity in sociology is achieved through mutual criticism of members of the sociological community. Many topics studied in sociology are highly controversial, since they directly affect the disputes and conflicts that arise in society itself. But through public debate, with careful examination of the evidence and the logical structure of arguments, such problems can be studied effectively and fruitfully7).
The practical importance of sociology
Understanding social situations
Sociology has many practical influences on our lives. Sociological thinking and research contribute to practical policy and social reform in several ways. The most direct way is to provide a clearer or more accurate understanding of the social situation. This can be done either at the level of factual knowledge, or by gaining a more accurate understanding of why something is happening (in other words, through theoretical justification). For example, research may show that a much larger proportion of the population lives in poverty than is commonly believed. Any attempt to improve living standards is more likely to succeed if it is based on accurate and not erroneous information. The more we know about why poverty remains pervasive, the more likely it is that effective action will be taken against it.
Sensitivity to cultural differences
The second way that sociology can contribute to practical politics is by helping to foster greater cultural sensitivity towards different groups in society. Sociological research allows us to look at the social world as a variety of cultural perspectives, and this helps to eliminate the prejudices of different groups towards each other. One cannot be considered an enlightened politician without a developed understanding of differences in cultural values. Practical policies that are not based on the lifestyle awareness of those they target have little chance of success. Thus, a white social worker working in the West Indian sector of a British city will not be credible unless he develops a sensitivity to the cultural differences that often divide blacks and whites in Britain.
Assessing the results of political action
Third, sociological research is of practical importance in assessing the results of political initiatives. A program of practical transformation may not achieve the goals set by its creators, or it may entail a series of unforeseen consequences of an undesirable nature. For example, in the post-war years, large communal houses were built in many countries in the central areas of cities. It was intended to raise living standards for low-income groups living in slums; it was also planned to place various trade and consumer services here. However, research has shown that many of those who have moved from their previous homes to larger homes feel isolated and unhappy. High-rise buildings and shopping areas quickly fell into disrepair and became breeding grounds for gang hooliganism and other serious crimes.
Deepening self-knowledge
Fourthly, and, perhaps, this is the most important thing, sociology can give social groups a more enlightened idea of themselves, increase their self-understanding (38 pages). The more people know about the conditions of their own activities, about how society functions, the more likely they will be able to influence the circumstances of their own lives. It would be wrong to think of the practical role of sociology only as helping politicians or power groups make informed decisions. It is not always possible to expect from those in power who care about the interests of the underprivileged. Highly self-aware groups can effectively respond to the actions of government officials and other influencers, and can also put forward their own political initiatives. Self-help groups (such as Alcoholics Anonymous) and social movements (such as women's movements) are examples of social associations directly advocating for practical reform (see Chapter 9, Groups and Organizations).
The role of the sociologist in society
Should sociologists themselves actively defend and promote programs of practical change and social change? Some argue that sociology can be objective only if sociologists remain neutral on moral and political issues, but there is no reason to think that scholars who eschew public debate are necessarily more objective in assessing sociological issues. There is an obvious link between studying sociology and the awakening of social consciousness. Not a single person, wise by the experience of sociology, will remain indifferent to the inequality that exists in the world today, the lack of social justice in many situations or the lack of rights of millions of people. It would be strange if sociologists did not participate in practical activities, and it would be illogical and impractical to try to prevent them from using their sociological experience.
Final comments
In this chapter, we have viewed sociology as a discipline characterized by the discarding of personal subjective views of the world in order to study more closely the influences that shape our lives and the lives of others. Sociology as a special intellectual occupation emerged in the early period of development of modern industrial societies, and the study of such societies remains of fundamental importance. But sociologists also deal with a wide range of problems related to the nature of social interaction and human societies in general. In the next chapter we will turn to the diversity of human culture and see the striking contrast in the customs and habits of different peoples. To do this, we need to go on a round-the-world cultural expedition. On an intellectual level, we will repeat the voyages that Christopher Columbus, Captain Cook and other adventurers have undertaken as they embark on their perilous journeys around the globe. However, as sociologists, we cannot look at them only from the point of view of travelers - as voyages of "discoverers", since these expeditions entailed a process of Western expansion that had a dramatic impact on other cultures and subsequent world social development.
(39 pages)
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Summary
Sociology can be defined as the systematic study of human societies, with particular emphasis on modern industrial systems. Sociology arose out of attempts to understand the broad changes that have taken place in human societies over the past two or three centuries. Among the most important features of the modern social world, such as industrialization, urbanism and new types of political systems are noted. The changes that have taken place were not just large-scale. Great shifts have also taken place in the more intimate and personal characteristics of people's lives. An example of this is the growing role of romantic love as the foundation of marriage. Sociologists investigate social life by posing certain questions and trying to find answers to them in the course of systematic research. These questions can be factual, comparative, developmental, or theoretical. In sociological research, it is important to distinguish between intentional and unintended results of human actions. Engaging in sociology involves the ability to think with imagination and detach from preconceived notions of social relations. Sociology is closely related to other social sciences. All social sciences are concerned with human behavior, but focus on different aspects of it. The links between sociology, anthropology and history are especially important. Sociology is a science in the sense that it uses systematic research methods and constructs theories based on available facts and logical reasoning. But it cannot be directly compared to the natural sciences, because the study of human behavior is fundamentally different from the study of the natural world. Sociologists strive to be objective in their study of the social world, trying to approach research with an open mind. Objectivity does not depend on the inclinations of a particular researcher, but on the public assessment of research and theory, and this is an essential feature of sociology as a scientific discipline. Sociology is a discipline with important practical applications... Her contributions to social criticism and practical social reform go in several directions. First, a better understanding of social circumstances often gives us the chance to better control them. Second, sociology contributes to the growth of our cultural sensitivity, allowing any political action to take into account differences. cultural property... Third, we can assess the consequences (intentional and unintended) of adopting certain political programs. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, sociology promotes self-knowledge by providing groups and individuals with greater opportunities to change their conditions of life.
(40 pages)
Basic concepts
sociology science
social structure objectivity
The most important terms
representation based social reproduction
in common sense
factual issues social transformation
comparative questions sociological imagination
developmental issues anthropology
empirical research positivism
theoretical questions meaningful actions
unintended consequences of self-knowledge
(41 pages)
6) Mills C. Wright. The Sociological Imagination. Hannondsworth, 1970.
7) Habermas Jurgen. Communication and the Evolution of Society. Cambridge, 1979.
In this part of the book, we begin our exploration of the diverse world of sociology. We will look at the relationship between individual development and culture, analyze the main types of societies in which people live today and in the past. Our personality and worldview are strongly influenced by the culture and society in which we exist. At the same time, through our daily activities, we actively recreate and change the cultural and social contexts in which we operate.
In the first chapter of this part (chapter 2; we explore the unity and diversity of human culture. We will consider in what ways people are similar to animals and how they differ from them, we will analyze a number of differences that exist in different human cultures. The degree of cultural differences should be considered as the result of changes that have actually transformed or destroyed many cultures that have existed until now.A general picture of these changes is reconstructed, and the main types of dominant societies in the world are given in contrast to those that preceded them.
The next chapter (Chapter 3) discusses socialization. The process by which the infant develops into a social being is especially considered. Adaptation to life in society, to a certain extent, continues throughout the life of an individual, therefore, the study of socialization also includes an analysis of generational change - changes in relations between young people, adults and the elderly.
In Chapter 4, we explore how people interact with each other in everyday life, for which we consider the subtle and at the same time extremely important mechanisms through which individuals interpret each other's actions and statements. The study of social interaction can tell us a lot about the broader social environments in which we live.
Chapter 5 brings us to a discussion of more general social processes, and it begins with an examination of deviant behavior and crime. By analyzing exceptions - people whose behavior deviates from generally accepted norms - we can better understand the behavior of the majority.
The last chapter of this part (chapter 6) discusses gender issues and analyzes the impact of changing social conditions on the position of men and women in modern societies. This chapter also includes an exploration of the nature of sexuality, with particular attention to the factors that determine types of sexual behavior.
(42 pages)
Chapter 2. Culture and Society
Meeting of cultures
About half a century ago, the inhabitants of some islands in the western Pacific began to build complex and large wooden aircraft models. Hours of painstaking labor were spent on their manufacture, although none of the islanders had ever seen an airplane up close. The models were not supposed to fly, they were the center of a religious cult invented by local prophets. Religious leaders announced that if certain rites were performed, a "cargo" would come from heaven. The cargo was goods that people who came from the West brought to the islands for themselves. Then the whites will disappear, and the ancestors of the aborigines will return to them. The islanders believed that if the rituals were strictly observed, a new era would come when they could enjoy the material benefits of the white invaders, while preserving the old way of life1).
Why did “cargo cults” arise? They were the result of a clash between the traditional beliefs and customs of the islanders and the way of life brought from the West. The wealth and power of the whites were clearly visible, and the islanders decided that the sources of the benefits that the aliens enjoyed were those very incomprehensible flying objects. From the point of view of the islanders, it was quite logical to try to gain power over the planes through special ritual actions. At the same time, they sought to preserve their own customs and protect them from alien interference.
The islanders' knowledge of Western lifestyle and Western technology was weak; they interpreted the actions of Europeans in terms of their own beliefs and ideas about the world. In this respect, their reactions were similar to those found in virtually all of early and medieval history. Even people of the largest civilizations of the past had a very vague idea of the life of other peoples. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when Western merchants and adventurers traveled to remote corners of the globe, they perceived everyone they came in contact with as “barbarians” or “savages”.
Will there be money under communism? - was asked in the anecdote of stagnant times. According to those storytellers, the Cuban idealists believed that no, the Yugoslav opportunists - that yes, and our Soviet Marxists approached the matter "flexibly": who would, and who did not ... Communism in the country did not win, but it worked out with money exactly as it was prescribed under Brezhnev.
In post-Soviet times, the gap between the incomes of the poor and the rich grew every year. Now it reaches, according to scientists, 30 times (in practice, taking into account the mass of side factors, even more). Sociologists from the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted a large-scale and in many ways unique research. They comprehensively studied the most populous stratum of modern society - the "new Russian poor" (if you stick to scientific terms, then people are poor, needy and needy). A voluminous report on this topic was presented to the public yesterday. The most complete of his data "RG" is published today by the first of the mass media.
How do the low-income strata live, what do they hope for and what do they no longer have, who do they trust and what life prospects do they have? The picture turned out not very rosy, but accurate. Moreover, the study was based on a whole series of similar surveys from previous years. The results of a survey by the IS RAS simply must become a reason for deep thoughtfulness and an urgent reaction of various power structures, current politicians and representatives of "civil society" (by the way, it also does not fatten too much and knows the problems of the poor on its own skin).
Six thousand under the keel
Sociologists introduced a special indicator - the "living standards index": it took into account not only what an individual or "in the household" has, but also what people are deprived of and cannot afford. It turned out that every fifth Russian can call himself poor, and sometimes “beggar” with good reason. The most significant social stratum of Russian society ... no, it is not yet the middle class, as in most developed countries. Most of the people in Russia are "poor" - for 7-8 years in the course of any of the sociological surveys, their share did not fall below 40 percent and now stands at 43 percent. At the same time, 16 percent are those who are teetering on the brink of poverty.
Experts and ordinary people disagree on where exactly the notorious "poverty line" lies and what numbers it is designated by. But, alas, the further it goes, the more it resembles not even a circle, but a "vicious circle": once having got there, people cannot escape from it.
Sociologists did not ask people for income certificates - all the data below were derived from the words of the respondents. However, they do not contradict the official statistics. According to the self-esteem of Russians, the monthly own income of a poor Russian (salary, pension, etc.) is on average 5338 rubles, of a low-income citizen - 7624 rubles, and among relatively well-off strata of the population - more than 13 thousand rubles. The "average" income of the poor is 6 thousand rubles. Modest, more than modest.
Yes, in the past five years, judging by the results of research, the monthly average per capita income of people has grown significantly (from 2003 to 2008 - 2 times). But, unfortunately, everything in the world is relative, and absolute numbers mean little. Along with wages, prices went up and inflation grew. And income per se, as sociologists have long understood, does not say much about a person's “well-being”. Much more important here is what he owns, what he managed to accumulate over the years and whether he wasted everything he acquired ...
Our fellow citizens live really poorly. In the subgroup of "needy" 45 percent of Russians do not have any relatively expensive real estate, except for an apartment or a house (neither a summer residence, nor garden plot, no garage). By the way, in 2003 there were only 21 percent of them, which shows that people are gradually selling off what they still have from their better times.
A quarter of the poor people in Russia do not even own the housing they currently live in. Among the rest of the "low-income" (but not entirely poor), 40 percent of real estate - only an apartment. Low-income Russians do not talk about second housing at all, although 8 percent of the well-off strata have it. Only 2 percent of the needy and 7 percent of the “ordinary” needy have an apartment, a car and a dacha - the traditional set of the "master of life". Only 1 percent of all low-income people have relatively new car(not older than 7 years).
15 percent of low-income Russians do not have their own separate housing - they live in hostels, rented apartments or communal apartments, in the "part of the house", etc. Among the poor, there are twice as many such wandering in strange corners, among the relatively prosperous - one and a half times less. The housing that the poor have is usually not the most comfortable, spacious and comfortable: there are fewer rooms, there may be no hot water or sewage ... The same applies to "durable goods": from a set of 23 items (refrigerator, TV, carpet, vacuum cleaner, VCR, air conditioner, satellite dish, etc.) the poor have an average of 7.4 items, of which only 2-3 are relatively new. True, in recent years, there have been more useful expensive things in poor houses - people try to buy them as soon as there is at least some money. Leader in this "expensive shopping list" - mobile phone... If in 2003 only 4 percent of low-income Russians owned it, now it is already two-thirds. Four times as many poorer families than before have acquired computers, three times as many - freezers, etc.
What is in the home of a low-income Russian? Refrigerator (99 percent), color TV (98), carpet or rug (92), Washer(82), vacuum cleaner (88), furniture set (86), mobile phone (66). Everything else - microwave ovens, video cameras and digital cameras and even more so exercise machines or air conditioners are "for the rich."
Over the past five years, poor Russians have nevertheless felt a shift for the better in terms of the material side of their lives. “Bad” with clothes is no longer among 36 percent of the poor, but among 25 percent (among the poor, respectively, not 23 percent, but 12 percent). Sociologists noted a quantum leap in nutrition: the share of those who rate it as “good” has finally exceeded the number of people who eat “poorly” (in 2003, everything was the other way around). But the numbers are still very far from ideal.
Working body - head
"If you study badly, you will go to the plant!" Now everything is not so straightforward, and skilled workers can earn quite enough - more than another "state employee" with a teacher's or medical diploma. More than half of these workers (54%) now belong to the relatively well-off strata (however, 28 percent are poor, 14% are needy, 7% are poor).
On the whole, when sociologists tried to draw a generalized portrait of a poor Russian, it turned out to be quite variegated. The number of workers among the "new poor" is less than half (as a rule, of the 3-4th category). In this case, it is not the qualifications that are important, but the "reliability" of the workplace. Almost a third of ordinary workers in trade and consumer services have modest incomes, they are afraid of losing their jobs, and for good reason: the owners of these jobs are being harshly squeezed out by competitors who came to Russia on the wave of migration.
People with higher and specialized secondary education are less likely to be among the "new poor" than those who have only secondary school behind them. A good diploma dramatically increases a person's chances to "break through in life." In and of itself, physical labor does not directly lead to poverty. But at the same time, it is precisely the fact that they work with their "heads" or "with their hands" that separates the poor and the well-off. Two-thirds of the wealthy strata of the population are people engaged in complex mental work. On the contrary, 63 percent of the poor are workers without special education. It is easier to slip into poverty and "people-cogs" - low-skilled workers (mainly in trade and the sphere of consumer services), who can be easily replaced by someone else.
Judging by the survey data, over the past 5 years, low-income and needy Russians as a whole have begun to express more often their satisfaction with the work they are doing. However, only 21 percent of the "new poor" are satisfied with it. Despite the fact that the significance of work as such for Russians is exceptionally great - 40 percent of the respondents said that the concept of "prosperous life" for them primarily includes "good work." The poorest are, as a rule, dissatisfied with the fact that their work is hard, physically exhausting, and low-paid. Those who have slightly raised the poverty line complain about something else - that work "unpromising" or "uninteresting" does not give room for initiative ( 21 to 27 percent).
Poor is born, poor becomes
How to join the ranks of the "new poor"? There are several win-win recipes.
First of all, to be born in a low-income family, which is unable to give children a good education and somehow "push" them to another, more promising social stratum. Or live in a small town, village or village, where it is also extremely difficult. There is also a special, purely Russian risk - to grow old and retire. Half of Russian pensioners are low-income, another 30 percent are poor. Only 20% of them belong to the relatively well-off strata. For non-pensioners, the opposite is true: poor - 9%, prosperous - 50%. The older Russians are, the poorer they are. "Years of the great turning point" in the level of income (downward) - 51-60 years. Moreover, earlier this decline was less pronounced. What matters now is that older people are forced to spend more on drugs and medical services, and all these expenses after the monetization of benefits increased greatly. It is bad (for the same reasons) to have health problems: here is also added the "factor of competition" in hiring, the reduction of social programs in private enterprises. But women and men are approximately equal in the face of the threat of poverty.
In general, in Russia, judging by the data of sociologists, it is easiest to live without family, childless, without elderly relatives or disabled people dependent on them. The worst is for those who have both children and retirees in their families. Large and single-parent families fall into the category of poor in 33% of cases, in the number of needy and low-income families - in 15% and 26%, respectively.
Moving to a large city does not particularly save you from poverty. Quite the opposite. Among the "come in large numbers" here, the newly-made inhabitants of megalopolises are more poor than among the same indigenous inhabitants. And vice versa - if an inhabitant of a large city moves to a smaller one and finds work there, he has a greater chance of being in a "prosperous" stratum than local natives. The fact is that people who have gone through the process of "socialization" (that is, acquiring all the skills of life among their own kind) in a large city are much more active, persistent, better educated, more flexible than the inhabitants of a quiet, uncrowded "hinterland". The capitals that “don’t believe in tears” simultaneously make their inhabitants stronger and teach them the invaluable “science of survival”.
True, low-income people are much more likely to be prosperous and suffer from violations of their rights. For example, only 40 percent of the “new poor” are paid by their employer on time. Wealthy people do not run the risk of delaying salaries in 77 percent of cases. The difference is palpable. Yes, and raising his social status, a person breaking out of poverty sometimes has to go through all the circles of hell - when obtaining citizenship, registering, entering college, concluding an employment contract ... One consolation for the poor: their rich fellow citizens are much more often robbed on the street, in transport or "by the forces of touring burglars." They simply "have something to take."
Safety net
What really helps to get out of poverty is the ability to "not be lost one by one." As sociologists have already noted more than once, people who are prosperous are much better than the inhabitants of the "lower strata of society" are able to use friendships and family ties, the help of colleagues at work, and other so-called "social networks." Here the dependence is direct. Among the poor, according to them, 62% have "reliable friends", and among the well-off - 81%. True, there are also factors of age (pensioners have fewer friends simply because they are dying).
In general, only 27 percent Russian families do not receive any help and do not help anyone themselves. All the rest have a reason to thank others, and say "thank you" to them for the jointly dug up a vegetable garden, loaned money, caring for the sick and the elderly, assistance in repairs, protection when applying for a job, etc. True, in the low-income strata, to a greater extent, people provide each other with "simple" help or share something (for example, food from their own garden), than they arrange in good hospitals or help to enter college.
Well-off and poor Russians differ greatly in how they spend their free time and whether they have it at all. Its presence is considered important by 72 percent of our fellow citizens. But only 19 percent can boast that they have enough of it. For more than a third of Russians, having free time is an almost unattainable goal. But even with it, rich and poor spend their leisure time in different ways. The well-to-do strata emphasize rather on the intellectual, spiritual component, on modern hobbies for the Internet, fashion, design, music, etc. The poor have much less interest in all this (as well as in the theater, reading "serious" literature). Although it is curious: classical and modern literature is quite popular among the low-income and poor strata of the population, classical music- there was clearly not without the "contribution" of the impoverished Soviet intelligentsia. But the point of contact of the cultural interests of Russians, regardless of their income, is Soviet cinema and stage, modern Russian films, problem TV programs, foreign television series. The poor also watch, the rich also cry. True, sociologists have recorded in recent years that interest in the fine arts is gradually decreasing - people are interested in more "mundane" and ordinary things. And this is especially noticeable in the low-income strata. For 5 years, interest in Russian classical literature, theater and visual arts fell by 10 percent. The interest of the "new poor" in self-education has dropped sharply - by 20 percent.
However, their life aspirations are also much more modest than those of their rich counterparts - low-income people understand that it is very difficult for them to make a career or get rich. And if so, why waste energy?
Patriotism in a Million
In general, the values of life between rich and poor people do not differ that much. Everyone wants to have a happy family, a good job, loyal friends and colleagues who respect you. Nobody likes deceivers and bribe-takers, the overwhelming majority are categorically against the use and distribution of drugs. As for human qualities, some of them are especially appreciated by the poor people, and some by the rich. The first list is headed by "honesty", the second - "hard work". However, for everyone, "professionalism" is equally important. Well-off people also often mentioned "self-esteem" - among the poor, this quality did not even make it into the "top five." On the other hand, the poor ranked third in the hierarchy of values "sense of duty." Quite eloquent.
However, surveys have shown that when it comes to directly advocating for their rights, the poor and low-income people tend to be passive: 54 percent of the young poor and 43 percent of the elderly consider such efforts completely futile. But only one in four of their prosperous fellow citizens is ready to come to terms with injustice.
"And what will you agree to if you are promised a million dollars for it?" - asked at the end of the sociologists. The Russians did not succumb to the provocation. It turned out that in all strata of society there is a rather large (from 31% for the poor to 21% for the relatively well-off) share of those who do not need this million at all. The overwhelming majority of the rest are not ready to violate either moral standards or the law for the sake of such a jackpot. They would not sacrifice principles, would not allow themselves to be humiliated, would not take up illegal matters. The only thing that some part of citizens (from 9 to 19 percent) agree to is to change citizenship for a million greenbacks and leave for another country. But just this is unlikely. The state will definitely not let go of such patriots, they will come in handy themselves.
Help "RG":
Sociological research "Low-income people in Russia: Who are they? How do they live? What are they striving for?" conducted in March-April 2008. According to the all-Russian representative sample, 1750 respondents aged 18 and older were interviewed in 11 territorial-economic regions of the country. According to the quota sample, representatives of 11 social groups population. The research and the analytical report were carried out by the working group of the IS RAS consisting of: research leaders - corresponding member. RAS M.K. Gorshkov and D.Sc. NOT. Tikhonov; V.A. Anikin, L.G. Byzov, S.V. Goryunova, Yu.P. Lezhnina, Yu.V. Ovchinnikova, N.N. Sedova, E.N. Starodubtsev, A. Fedosov. Scientific consultant - Dr. R. Krumm. Scientific editor - N.I. Leaving.
A loser doesn't even cry
The results of the survey are commented on by Mikhail Gorshkov, Director of the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
tendencies
Russian newspaper: Mikhail Konstantinovich, the incomes of Russians are growing. Have we started to live better?
Mikhail Gorshkov: People whom we refer to as the middle class or its periphery have felt a change for the better over the past five years. Unfortunately, no qualitative positive shifts have yet taken place in the lives of the majority of low-income Russians. Their economic position is best defined by the term "relatively stable survival".
RG: But it would seem that salaries have become higher, people buy more expensive goods ...
Gorshkov: No wonder they say that fish is good, but a fishing rod is more important. Not everything is measured by the number of vacuum cleaners and carpets per capita of a poor population. We asked what people with modest incomes have been able to achieve in recent years. A quarter of the needy responded that they were able to raise their material level. 12% got a promotion at work. 10% made expensive purchases. 3% improved their living conditions. One percent each started a business or traveled abroad. 58 percent failed to achieve anything. Among the poorest such losers are three-quarters.
At the same time, in the more prosperous strata of the population, the situation is exactly the opposite: among them, three quarters claimed that they could change something for the better in their lives in the last three years. The poorest Russians, when asked what they have done to improve their financial situation, answer "nothing" in 40 percent of cases.
They essentially fell into social apathy, dropped their hands. More than half of the poor do not believe in themselves at all. And this pessimism has almost doubled compared to 2003. People are also passive in financial matters. According to our data, at the time of the survey, 48% of the poor and 63% of those in need had neither savings, nor unpaid loans or debts. About a quarter of the poor had small savings (which, however, cannot be lived on for a long time - only 4 percent could provide for a "rainy day a year long"). 17 percent had a need to repay loans, every tenth owed someone on trifles. However, less than 1 percent got into large debts. But banks usually do not lend to people with low wages and precarious jobs.
RG: Do people hope that the state will help them after all?
Gorshkov: No. Rather, they are soberly aware of their capabilities. They understand that no one will help. Many of our "new poor" are over 60. They simply cannot afford to look for extra work. Someone had to sell a house or dacha, thereby losing the opportunity to provide themselves with food. In any case, the situation of the poor in our country has clearly deteriorated.
One of the important symptoms is that the number of those who can afford to pay social services(medical, educational, etc.). 69 percent of Russians balancing on the brink of poverty, and half of the rest of the poor have never used anything like this in three years. This is their main difference from prosperous citizens, where there are only 16 percent of such "disenfranchised". And that means simple thing: low-income citizens cannot make investments in their "human capital" - and are doomed to "replicate poverty."
RG: Which "is not a vice"?
Gorshkov: The paradox of our time: in all social strata, even among the poor, there is now an increase in the number of those who verbally refer themselves to the "middle strata of society." The majority of Russians cannot come to terms with the role of the "lower classes", "social outsiders." It has become a shame to be not only poor, but also needy in Russia. Therefore, the program for increasing the size of the middle class put forward by the country's leadership turned out to be not only "timely" - it reflected the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of poor citizens who desperately want a better future.
By the way, the formula for this better life is clear enough for them: a favorite job, a happy family, good friends, a clear conscience and a standard of living that is no worse than that of others. On the other hand, Russians are not striving for power, a career, or getting into the "circle with high status", albeit more than 15 years ago. But there is one "but". It will be very difficult to achieve the 60-70% growth target for the middle class in 10 years, as the country's leadership sees it.
RG: The poverty of Russian old people, alas, is well known. How do low-income young people feel and behave?
Gorshkov: This, unfortunately, is one of the most passive groups in Russian society - it shows almost no interest in political participation, is not ready to defend its interests. The reason for this, in addition to low earnings, is also specific family problems that limit their activity. The older generation of low-income people is much more energetically fighting for their rights (for example, this manifested itself during the period of monetization of benefits).
The facts show that a significant part of Russians with modest incomes (especially in large cities) are still “afloat”. But at the slightest economic crisis such people will join the ranks of the needy and the poor. It means that social politics at the federal - and especially at the regional level, it should now be aimed at eliminating the main "factors of low-income". For example, to implement adaptation programs for people with disabilities, migrants, large families, etc., and not rely only on the mutual assistance of people, as is largely the case now. Unfortunately, we have to admit that political and public institutions designed to protect the rights and interests of citizens are extremely ineffective today. Low-income citizens (like Russians in general) do not expect or receive help from them. It is impossible to put up with this - the consequences may be too serious and irreversible.
Interviewed by Ekaterina Dobrynina
Discuss this stuff in " "
53% of Russians are sure that the poor in Russia are not ashamed to be
digit of the week
70 million Russians see nothing wrong with this. Among these people was the sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov:
I believe that it is not a shame to be poor anywhere and never. It's a shame to be an idiot, empty-headed, it's a shame to blindly follow fashion or, as it is now fashionable to say, glamor. Poverty is too complex a phenomenon to say, for example, that all people have been ruined by politics or their own laziness. There are many reasons. Sometimes people are poor consciously, by calculation - they do not like luxury and do not strive for money. So each person must decide for himself where his own poverty ends. I know many examples when a person, through his own efforts and efforts, turned from poor to rich. But those who lack the fortitude and character to fight poverty should not be ashamed. Perhaps they are simply unlucky or lacking in business acumen. I do not at all believe that ideally everyone should strive for wealth. Money, unfortunately, is not always beneficial. By the way, I have more than once been convinced of the correctness of the saying "poor but honest", but wealth and honesty usually cannot stand each other.
Young Russians are confident that it will be better for the development of the country if some of the large enterprises are owned by the state, according to the results of a survey by the Public Opinion Fund (FOM).
According to sociologists, today socialist views are extremely strong among young people. Their supporters constitute a relative majority - 28% of the respondents. It should be noted that among our fellow citizens aged 17 to 34, there are almost one and a half times more adherents of socialist views than liberals - 28 versus 20%. Supporters of state ownership are absolutely dominant among young people - 73% of them, while only 17% are supporters of private ownership of large enterprises.
At the same time, young Russians (73%) believe that economically "Russia is now moving in the right direction." Only 18% of young Russians say the opposite. Tellingly, sociologists note that indirect support for the current course among young people is higher than in society as a whole. According to the Levada Center, only about 33% of all citizens of the Russian Federation believe that the country is going in the wrong direction. And about 52% of all Russians say that the current course is correct.
Earlier, the October FOM poll showed that only a third of young people are interested in politics: at the age of 18-22, 64% are not interested in politics. Among young Russians aged 28-30, about 55% do not follow politics. It is curious that today young people do not have idols or attractive models of "correct" behavior.
Only about 30% of the respondents answered in the affirmative to the question "Is there anyone among famous people - cultural figures, scientists, politicians, athletes, etc., who is your moral authority, or are there no such people?" President Vladimir Putin, politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky or Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were named as role models.
Let us recall that the sociological survey "The Historical Path of Russia" conducted by the Levada Center at the end of March 2015, about 25% of respondents believe that in 50 years Russia will become as rich and developed as the countries of the West. Nevertheless, society is returning to conservative values, reminiscent of the "late Soviet version of existence."
Not so long ago, HSE professor Mark Urnov cited as an example the results of a study of students from Russian universities and Princeton University in the United States. According to the report, Russian students are much more willing to see their country as a great power, differ in much less liberalism, turn out to be more authoritarian than other categories of the population and are more in favor of the country's "autocracy".
In general, according to sociologists Denis Volkov and Stepan Goncharov, a more informed audience is not always more oppositional. According to their research, the activities of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are approved by 80% of those who use three or more independent media, and 66% of those who do not use independent media, and the activities of LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky - 51% of respondents from the first group and 46% - from the second. In addition, as Gudkov adds, over the past three years, the differences in assessments of what is happening between Muscovites and residents of other regions have almost disappeared.
Liberals have to put up with the fact that Russians support their president, participants in the Russian Economic Challenge, hosted by the Carnegie Moscow Center, said. The data obtained clearly show that support for the president and the current course of the country is by no means the lot of some "poorly educated dependent poor".
The study clearly demonstrates that the figures of support for the current government and personally for the president among the upper circles of Russian society largely coincide with the ratings of Putin compiled by Russian sociologists. These data were also confirmed by the American college "Hamilton" (New York) by conducting a study among representatives of the Russian elites.
Also, the data of the RANEPA survey for 2012-2015 show that Russians are less and less ashamed of patriotism and are ready to express their civic and political position in public.
Another poll, conducted by Valeria Kasamara, head of the political research laboratory at the Higher School of Economics, about the extent to which young people are ready to support opposition rallies, surprised his customers. Most of the students expressed their readiness to support the current government policy, declared their pride in their Motherland, our victory in the Great World War II and Soviet history.
In general, the young people did not find reasons to "mum" in Russia. It is worth noting that the authors of this survey linked such sentiments to the allegedly poor education and level of information education of young Russians. Who, by the way, according to their own words "don't really like TV", but study according to the Western system, pass the same exam ...
Let us add that the liberal expert Fyodor Krashenninikov stated with bitterness that the majority on the Internet support the government, unification with Crimea and is not going to arrange a revolution in the capital. All this destroys the opposition myth that "the government is supported only for money and only trolls and servicemen", declaring a sincere and free support state.
"It is important to admit to yourself: the Internet in Russia is no longer a citadel of the opposition," the liberals are upset.
